


Complications

by Malkontent



Category: Diablotin
Genre: F/M, House Rat, Newborn Children, Schmoop, Star-crossed, Webercon 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 18:19:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3619617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malkontent/pseuds/Malkontent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ajla goes to see Alvin with big news after a long absence. Based on a one-shot game from Webercon 2015.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complications

The cold Diablotin wind whistled through the alley as Alvin trudged home, his worn leather boots covered in mud and his long cloak pulled tightly around him. He’d always hated winters in the city. They were wet and dirty and cold, and right now all he wanted was to be home with a fire in the stove and maybe a warm mulled ale if he could muster up the energy to put it on to heat.

The door of his dingy apartment creaked as usual when he stepped inside, shaking the damp off his cloak before hanging it up to dry. With a sigh he took off his boots as well. 

“I see that you’ve only grown more handsome of late…” 

Alvin spun on his heels and saw a figure in the shadows of the still dark room behind him. For a tense moment he was all but blind before his eyes adjusted to the dark and the figure’s features became more distinct.

“Ajla?!” he gasped, “What are you… how… why are you sitting here in the dark?”

Ajla laughed and crossed the distance between them gracefully, wrapping her arms around Alvin’s waist.

“I prefer the dark. There’s too much light in the upper city. It’s bad for the eyes.”

She reached up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his before he could respond. Alvin felt himself melt slightly, sinking down into her as his hands began to move around her back, sliding under the thick patchwork furs that she wore for warmth. It had been so long since he’d seen her, he wanted to feel every part of her at once, but he stopped himself and pulled away for a moment, if only for the sake of catching his breath.

“Ajla…” he asked, cupping her face, “Where have you been? It’s been six months since I last saw you. I feared the worst…”

“I’m sorry, my love,” Ajla said softly. She glanced at the doorway leading to Alvin’s bedroom, which was cracked open a few inches. “Things have been… delicate… lately. I wanted to see you. There were complications.”

“What complications? Did you… is there someone else? Are they forcing you to marry?”

“No,” Ajla replied quickly, shaking her head, “Nothing like that. I… Come with me. I’ll show you.”

Confused, Alvin took her hand and let her lead him to the bedroom door.

“Alvin…” she said, as she pushed it open, revealing a small wrapped bundle lying on his bed, “I’d like you to meet Sofija… our daughter.”

The blood drained from Alvin’s face and his head spun. He felt himself taking a step forward and looking down into the fur bundle. A tiny sleeping face was nestled among the soft wrappings. It had a wide-set nose, just like his, and a thin tuft of curly brown hair poked out from beneath the wrappings.

“Gods…” he whispered. Alvin wasn’t stupid, by any stretch. He’d known that this was a possibility. Truth be told it might not even be the first child he’d sired. But it was always something far away and removed from his life. He’d never imagined himself as a father.

“Is she…” he began, but his voice cracked and faltered.

“She’s healthy and strong,” Ajla said with a smile, “And when she wakes you’ll see that her lungs are strong too. She has her mother’s stubbornness.”

“Can I… can I hold her?” Alvin asked, tremulously.

“Of course.”

Alvin reached down and carefully picked up his daughter, cradling her in his arms. He ran a calloused finger gently along her soft cheek, careful not to wake her.

“How old is she?”

“Twenty three days. It was a hard labor, and I needed time to recover. Luckily, I had plenty of help. We have very good… I suppose you’d call them midwives, although that word isn’t quite right.”

Alvin felt his head spinning. It was so much to take in, but he knew one thing. He loved Ajla. He’d missed her touch and her laugh for every day of the last six months, and he wanted to be with her. And now they had a child…

“Run away with me,” he blurted out awkwardly.

Ajla tilted her head, as though unsure she’d heard him correctly.

“What?”

“Run away with me. We can leave Diablotin, go live in the country. I can farm, or work at a mill or something. You can hunt. It’ll just be the three of us.”

Ajla laughed lightly.

“I… I can’t, Alvin.”

“Sure you can. If you stay here… we’ll never be together in this town.” 

“I know…” Ajla said, nodding sadly, “But this is where I belong. My family is here… my clan. And I would never be happy in the… country. My place is underground. And yours is here. I love you, Alvin. Truly I do. But it just… it can’t be. Not in this lifetime.” 

Alvin felt dizzy once more as the bottom dropped out of his stomach. 

“I just… I don’t want to lose you again.”

Ajla stepped forward and put a hand gently on the side of his face.

“You won’t. I’ll be here. I’ll see you every chance I get. And I promise I will raise our daughter to be a fine, strong woman. My cousin’s family has agreed to watch her while I’m on patrol, and when she is older she can join me in the tunnels. I’ll teach her to be a fine scout for the clan.”

“Will I… will you tell her who I am?”

“You can tell her yourself. I want her to know what kind of man her father is.”

Alvin chuckled.

“Maybe it’s better if she doesn’t. You could tell her that I was a prince or something. Something dignified. Something better than a criminal.”

Ajla smiled.

“I love her father for the man he is. I want her to know you.”

“I think… I think I may change careers. It’s past time I settled down. I want her to be proud of me.”

Ajla leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, resting one hand lightly on the bundle between them.

“’ll teach you some of the runes. If you ever need me, all you need do is scratch them by a sewer grate. Someone will find me.”

Alvin nodded. This wasn’t what he’d pictured for his life, or his family, but it was something he could live with. If it meant that he could still see Ajla, and now Sofija, however rarely, he would live with almost anything.

“Do you… do you need to leave now?”

Ajla laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

“No. I have all night. We need to make up for lost time.”


End file.
